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One of the 9V switches in my layout is remote-controlled (using ideas I learned from eurobricks) so 12V is not a very big advantage as far as that is concerned. For some reason I do like running trains over the 12V track though. Biggest problem is setup time. For the 9V trains, all but one of them in my layout have only 1 motor (the Maersk has two 9V motors). They run fine (speed setting is #3 which is about 5.4 volts), the loop with the Maersk train is set at about 4.8 volts which is between settings #2 and #3 on the speed controller (I modified a 9V controller for this). I modified the wheel sets (see railbricks #2) to make them run more easily. This way the motors do not get warm. So for 6-wide trains, 1 motor is enough for lots of trains except if they're very long. Of course, when you build 8 wide then the weight increases dramatically, and so does the cost (in bricks, motors, etc).

Please check out my layout at our local train show. Ideas, tips, suggestions, comments are welcome! One question I have is: Packing and unpacking all this into boxes each year for our annual show is an endless amount of work, I wonder if there is a smarter way to transport this stuff from A to B.

12V is great for having a nice long cargo train running at a low speed. Its electrical resistance is about 4 times less than that of 9V track, so you need much fewer electrical connections when you have a long loop. But it is very time consuming to set up. Even though at our local train show I had a lot more 9V track than 12V track, the 12V track still took about 4 times more time to set up than the 9V track (if I didn't have people helping to set up the track, the 12V track would have had to stay at home).

Great work. Your work convinced me to keep my remaining cross tracks (I sold some of them because I had no way to use them in my layout without getting collisions. But with automation, they'll be great).

This is great stuff! It means I can: a) sell some of my spare MISB 9V motors b) I don't have to worry that I'll ever run out of 9V motors, because, if one breaks, it can be repaired cheaply, c) and best of all: the repaired one will be stronger than a brand new 9V motor! PS. Check out my layout at our local train show:

I wouldn't put in any rotary pot. Take the 9V battery box, but put in only 4 real AAA batteries (and two dummies). If you use rechargeable batteries, the nominal voltage is now 4 * 1.2 = 4.8 volt. This is fine for the 4.5 V motor (even 6 volts is no problem for a 4.5 V motor). The PF receiver works fine on 6 volts (or 4.8 volts) as well.

Did you replace all 6 AA batteries in the train? (rather than just the 3 that are easiest to reach).

My son had a remotre controlled car that came with a rechargable battery pack, which consisted of 8 AA sized batteries wired together (you could not take the batteries out of the battery pack without breaking it). This worked for a while, but it didn't work very long. The problem is that you'll always have some batteries that have more charge than others. When you run the remoted controlled car, in your case, train, some batteries will be overdrawn. But when you charge it, the others will be overcharged. After 10 charges, the performance of this remote controlled car began to deteriorate (it was not as fast as it used to be, and it didn't run as long on a charge anymore). After 20 charges, the battery life was only a fraction of what it used to be. With some care you can probably make your batteries last longer than that, but eventually I think it is likely that you'll damage them.

I would not recommend to connect two battery boxes. If you want a longer battery life, you could wire 4 or 5 AA batteries together (6 might not fit in the engine) and connect that to the PF receiver. Make sure to get the polarity right! (you need to have a volt meter before you do anything like this).

I didn't buy 9398 but I'm definitely buying this one as soon as it is available.

Battery life is not really an issue, a battery box with 6 rechargeable batteries lasts quite a long time. I have a lot of 9V and 12V track and motors, but if I had to start from scratch, then PF would be more economical. One thing I don't like so much about PF is the high-pitch sound, but (although I haven't tested this yet) I think you can get rid of that sound by adding a capacitor (has anyone tried that?)

This question suggests a misunderstanding of current vs voltage. The transformers don't determine the number of amps (the torque that the motors need to deliver determines the number of amps). The transformers only determine the number of volts. So a 5 amp transformer is no more risky for the motor than a 1 amp transformer. On the other hand, 20 volts is a lot more risky than say 8 volts. The main thing you want from your power supply is this: That it delivers a constant voltage. When the train goes through a curve, it encounters more friction. This extra friction translates in more torque that the motors need to deliver. This extra torque translates into more amps. Due to electrical resistance, the extra amps cause the effective voltage to become lower; and that lower effective voltage is the reason that the train slows down in a curve. Several things contribute to this lower effective voltage: (1) electrical resistance in the motor. (2) electrical resistance in the track (3) electrical resistance in the transformer. A good transformer is one that behaves as though it had no electrical resistance (meaning that its voltage stays the same even if the number of amps goes up). The 9V controller does in fact behave like that, up to about 500 mAmp or so it behaves very well. If it is asked to deliver say 700 mAmp, it can do that, however, then its output voltage starts decreases and trains slow down more in curves than they have to (at such a load, things will work better with a 2nd controller added to the track). PS. High quality industrial motors have very little electrical resistance; and if you keep the voltage the same, they stay at essentially the same speed, even if you drastically increase their workload.

The trains slow down a lot in the train yard because the electricity is coming from only 1 direction, so if you calculate the electrical resistance (the number of Ohms) then it will be a lot higher there. Some of the switches could also have a noticeable amount of electrical resistance (it varies quite a bit). In a 9V train, adding more than 2 motors does not always make the train faster, this depends a bit on the power supply and the track itself. If you're on a part of the track that is electrically far away (i.e. counting in Ohms, not in meters) from the power supply, then having more motors leads to a larger drop in voltage (drop: comparing the voltage at the power supply with that at the motors). This larger drop in voltage means that you don't see the speedup you would expect from having an extra motor. For my layout, I have measured the current that the trains use (note: in a curve they use more than on the straights). I use that data to calculate how many track connections are needed in order to avoid significant slowdowns.

Among the ones that have the usual size, the strongest one is the 12V motor. Then PF. Then 9V. Then RC. PF and 9V are fairly close.

I have both, and I use both. For the 88000, I prefer to use rechargeable AAA batteries (not only because you can recharge them when they're empty, but I also prefer the slightly lower voltage since this helps to prevent derailings in curves. I suspect that for heavy trains, the AAA rechargeable batteries might last longer on 1 charge than AAA alkaline's but I have not tested this so I'm not sure of that).

I went with option #3: One power bogie in the front locomotive, and replace the bogie with the technic axles in the rear locomotive by a bogie with 9V wheels to reduce friction by quite a lot. You can buy engine or cars separately on eBay. But I think it looks best with 2 full sets (though you need a long track to make it look right).

I replied to this: "I saw some loss of power around turns". This problem still exists if you remove 2 traction bands, but it becomes noticeably smaller. The 9v and PF train motors behave roughly the same. I would recommend XL instead of a 9V or PF train motor because it gives a more controlled speed. If you do decide to use a PF or 9V train motor instead of an XL motor, then I would recommend to remove all 4 traction bands from the EN.

The EN has elastic traction bands on 4 wheels. I removed 2 (from the front wheels). This reduces the amount of friction when the EN goes through a curve. It runs better this way (2 traction bands instead of 4 still gives enough traction to pull a long train). PS. I would definitely recommend the XL motor instead of a 9V train motor. It is a steam train, it's not supposed to run very fast. And, an Emerald Night is a big burden for a 9V motor (but not for an XL of course, that can pull anything).

It's not just Santa Fe cars, over time, most wheelsets get this problem. For heavier train cars (e.g. Santa Fe) the problem develops sooner, and is more noticeable, than for lighter train cars. Before treatment, my SF needed two 9V motors to run, even though it was only a 4-car train (1 engine + 3 cars). Now it only needs one 9V motor, and the amount of work that motor has to do is less than what each of the two motors had to do before treatment.

Each transformer can produce about 750 mA, so two transformers is enough to pull the train up. Four motors is definitely enough too. Parts of the track have to be electrically isolated from each other. The problem is going downhill. The voltage needs to be very low there, otherwise you'll derail. But the voltage can't be low going up. So the downhill part has to be isolated. You probably want 3 different voltages: going up, going level, going down. By the way, if one transformer is placed say at 4.2 volts, and the other at say 5.4 volts, it won't harm either one (however, unless they are quite far separated in the track, the one on 5.4 volt is doing almost all of the work).

I don't think you need four 9V motors for your 8-car Horizon Express, three should certainly do it (two would be enough if it weren't for the inclines). One of the reasons that a train like Santa Fe is hard to pull is a defect in the design of the wheelsets. After some wear, the wheels rub against the wheelsets (see Railbricks #2 for a solution). That's under a very high load. The 9V motors in my trains generally pull about 250 mA each (regardless of the speed setting, increasing voltage does not lead to a higher current because this is a motor and not a resistor or a lamp).

That's what I did, it's way cheaper, and it works fine.

Go ahead, take it apart and build B. It works great, you'll love it. Trust me, you'll miss out if you don't, it's a great fun model. Eventually you'll want to turn it back into A because it just looks so good. Don't worry about the build time that that'll take you; first of all, it goes quicker the second time, and secondly, don't you remember it was fun to build it? PS. Some time ago someone posted instructions for a 8043C model, I haven't built it yet but it looks really nice too.

Sometimes you have to fiddle a bit with the axles during the build to make sure that all axles turn smoothly. After that, it should run fine on the 8878 (mine does). The 8878 is pretty convenient for Technic because it is light-weight and can deliver plenty of amps (at a slighly lower voltage though).

There are different kinds on eBay. The thin ones are the best. The thicker ones cause derailments in switches (yes, riding 1 millimeter too high causes problems).